NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 29, 2004: Some 180 young Hindus from around the world will meet in the Indonesian resort of Bali in November to set up a global secretariat that will seek to spread the virtues of the Hindu religion. The organizers include two young Balinese Hindus who are now here meeting community leaders in India to canvass support for the conference that will lead to a World Hindu Youth Organisation (WHYO). “Our aim is to meet our Hindu brothers and sisters from around the world, network and see what we can learn from them,” said A. A. Arya Wedakarna, 24, a PhD student of Balinese origin who lives in Jakarta. While Wedakarna is on his third visit to India, his compatriot and fellow student, Ayu Aryani, is visiting the country for the first time.



Hindus officially make up 11 percent of Indonesia’s 250 million people but they are in an overwhelming majority in Bali, Hinduism’s best-known outpost in Southeast Asia. Indonesia is home to some 1,000 ancient Hindu temples. In Bali itself, there are a dozen major temples and thousands more in varying sizes. “Everyone in Bali, the young included, believe and follow (Hindu) rituals. But most don’t understand them,” said Arya Wedakarna. “There is growing (Hindu) consciousness in Bali,” he added. “We are keen to set up a global Hindu organization to spread Hinduism in the country and elsewhere. We need to introspect, we need to learn (about Hinduism), and we need exposure.”



The organizing committee of the Nov 26-30 World Hindu Youth Summit includes leading Indonesia Hindu institutes such as Independent Youth Hindu Intellectual Forum, Hindu Indonesia University, Ashram Gandhi Puri and Indonesia Hindu Youth Association. Delegates, who will come from such countries as India, Nepal, the US, Britain, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, will discuss the diversity of Hindu cultures and their uniqueness as well as their originality.



HPI Requests: If you can put us in touch with the organizers of this event, kindly e-mail ar@hindu.org.

JAMMU, INDIA, August 30, 2004: The 45-day annual Amarnath pilgrimage concluded on Monday with saints carrying the holy mace of Lord Siva reaching the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas. The charri mubarak, carried by around 500 saints led by its custodian, Mahant Deepinder Giri, reached the shrine, 143 km from Srinagar, around 0845 IST. A record 400,000 pilgrims undertook the yatra this year. Tight security arrangement were made for the yatra with the Border Security Force personnel deployed all along the route and Central Reserve Police Force on duty at the base camps and halting stations.

HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 29, 2004: Eight suspected militants belonging to the Muslim group Lashkar-e-Toiba have been arrested in Hyderabad. The police claim they were plotting to blast the famous Ganesh Temple near the Secunderabad railway station during the Ganesh festival next month. Those arrested belong to the old city in Hyderabad and nearby districts. Police said they have links with the LeT module in Andhra Pradesh. Three kilograms of ammonium nitrate, an explosive device, gelatin sticks and a revolver have been seized from the arrested militants. The explosive materials seemed similar to those used in the blast of Sai Baba temple at Dilsukhnagar two years ago, police said. (with PTI inputs)

USA, August 2004: It all started a few years ago with socially responsible investing. SRI became the catch word for investors looking into investing in mutual funds or the stocks and bonds of select companies. Expounding criteria such as we only invest in companies that do not derive any profit or a minute amount of profit from the tobacco industry, nuclear arms or from using child labor, SRI dealers were and still are a hit to many investors. Sparked by SRI, religious investors were asking for more. They wanted investments that coincide with their religious faith and hence the newest movement called faith-based or morally responsible investing was conceived. The article says, “The movement seems to have three primary components that often overlap: individual and institutional investors who only want to invest in companies that reflect their core values; faith-based mutual funds that screen out certain companies according to morally determined values; and investment advisors who attempt to make their spiritual beliefs the foundation of their businesses.” President Dennis Carpenter of International Wealth Management from Grapevine, Texas, says, “I think that advisors have been slow to move in this area of mixing investments and faith. Some of them have great programs. Some are well screened and some are cost efficient, but not all. You have to look at these like any mutual fund. If the expense ratio is too high, even though the goal is admirable, you need to bring things into line with the competitive world. They need to be judged on the same criteria as mainstream funds.” Dan Moisand, a principal with Spraker, Fitzgerald, Tamayo & Moisand, in Melbourne, Florida, says, “I think it is unwise to try to separate faith from any part of one’s life. Spirituality is part of who we are. Planners should certainly incorporate this part of a client’s life into the planning process.”



So today’s faith-based investor has choices, especially if the investor is from a Christian background. The article sites the example of Christian Brothers Investment Services that was founded in 1981. It says, “CBIS employs a ‘life ethics’ screen to weed out companies involved in contraception and abortion; a ‘violence’ screen to eliminate companies involved in ‘the spread of militarism’ (weapons of mass destruction), land mines, and retail handguns; a tobacco screen; and a pornography screen.” Other funds that espouse values based on Roman Catholic, Evangelical Christian, and Islamic beliefs are now available, according to this article.



Any investor reading the article would be inclined to ask how the return on faith-based investors compares with other traditional investments. Greg Calson, a Morningstar analyst, says, “It’s important for people to realize when looking at these funds that the performance may or may not be attributable to the screens being applied. The same two variables apply to every fund — the talents of management and costs.” Frank Coleman, VP of Christian Brothers Investment Services, adds, “Our performance is competitive, and in areas where it may not seem competitive, that has less to do with SRI than with market issues or manager issues. We’ve discovered that there’s enough breadth in the capital marketplace that you can always find companies that are good investments.” So what it boils down to is that an investor does not have to sacrifice personal ethics in order to have comparable returns. This is a win-win situation for any religious person.



So just how much choice does a faith-based investor have? The article does not specifically mention any funds that espouse values unique to Hinduism. It does however allude to the fact that financial advisors want to promote investments that coincide with their own personal values. If advisors of the Hindu faith do the research on mutual fund companies and purpose options to like-minded clients, a whole new book of business could open up for them. The article sums it up, “The faith-based investing movement will likely continue to grow over the next few years, fueled both by the demand from individual clients and by the growing number of financial advisors who are making their religious faith an increasingly prominent part of their businesses.”

USA, September 1, 2004: (RNS) Most Protestant ministers expressed little familiarity with the key beliefs of a number of non-Protestant religious groups, a survey has found. The findings by Ellison Research, a marketing research company in Phoenix, were first reported in the September/October edition of Facts & Trends, a magazine published by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. More than half were familiar with related faiths, such as Catholicism and Judaism, but just 28 percent with Buddhism, 27 percent with Hinduism and a scant 5 percent with Sikhism The survey was based on a sample of 700 Protestant minsters in 50 states.